Jayhawks to Host Washington Wednesday in WNIT Fab 4

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas Women’s Basketball will play a fifth-consecutive home game in the postseason on Wednesday, March 29, as the Jayhawks host the Washington Huskies in the Fab 4 round of the WNIT.

Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday and the game will be televised on Big 12 NOW, with Josh Klingler and Wayne Simien on the call. Fans can also listen to the game on the Jayhawk Radio Network, with Steven Davis and David Lawrence calling the action.

Kansas improved to 23-11 on the year with a 78-64 over Arkansas in the Great 8 on March 26. The Jayhawks have also defeated Western Kentucky, Missouri, and Nebraska in the run to the Fab 4. Kansas now has 23 wins in a season for the first time since 1998-99 and the win over Arkansas set a new single-season school record as the 17th home victory for the Jayhawks this season. The 23 victories in a season is tied for the sixth-most in a single season in Kansas women’s basketball history.

Holly Kersgieter, a three-time All-Big 12 selection, scored 25 points against Arkansas to go from No. 13 to No. 11 on KU’s all-time scoring list. Kersgieter passed Angie Snider (1,518) and Chelsea Gardner (1,522) on the scoring list and now has 1,541 points, leaving her 117 shy of reaching the top 10 in school history. Kersgieter is third on the team with 14.1 points per game this season and she’s averaging 16.3 in the WNIT.

Taiyanna Jackson is shooting an astounding 75.0% (33-44) from the field in the WNIT after recording her third double-double in four games with 22 points and 11 rebounds against Arkansas. She now has 21 double-doubles this season, which is tied for third-most in school history, and she recorded her 100th blocked shot of the season against Arkansas, becoming the first KU player and ninth in Big 12 history to reach the milestone in a season. Jackson, a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team and All-Big 12 Defensive Team selection, is the first Jayhawk since 1982 to average a double-double for an entire season, and on March 22 was named a region finalist for WBCA All-America honors, which are announced at the end of the month.

All-Big 12 First Team selection Zakiyah Franklin had 10 points against Arkansas to become the 14th player in program history to reach the 1,500-point career milestone. KU’s leading scorer at 15.6 points per game for the season, Franklin has scored 1,503 career points at Kansas.

Chandler Prater has recorded two double-doubles in the WNIT. She’s averaging 12.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in the tournament, and has 13 assists and eight steals in four games.

Wednesday’s matchup will be the fourth all-time meeting between Kansas and Washington and the first since 1998. The Jayhawks lead the all-time series 2-1, which includes a 76-61 win on Dec. 8, 1996, in the only previous meeting played at Allen Fieldhouse. The two teams played in three-consecutive seasons from 1996-98, which also included KU defeating the Huskies 71-62 on Dec. 20, 1998, in Seattle.

Kansas is competing in the WNIT for the sixth time, first since 2011, and the Jayhawks are in the postseason for the second-consecutive season. KU is 13-5 all-time in the WNIT and has now reached the semifinals for the second time, first since 2009 when the Jayhawks reached the WNIT Championship game.

Washington defeated San Francisco, New Mexico, Kansas State and Oregon to reach the Fab 4. The Huskies are 19-14 on the year and tied for eighth in the Pac-12 with a 7-11 league record.

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With a win, Kansas would advance to the WNIT Championship game, where the Jayhawks would face the winner of the other Fab 4 matchup between Columbia and Bowling Green on Saturday, April 1, at 4:30 p.m. CT.